Do you remember playing the board game 'Scotland Yard' as you grew up? And the excitement of acting like the elusive criminal 'Mr. X' or the quick thinking policemen of London's Metropolitan Police service -Scotland Yard?
Well, we might have moved on from the game, but this week its time for the London police force to move on to their new headquarters & that's what this week's GK Nugget will talk about.
Let's start with why the London Police force is called Scotland Yard.
The name derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police (Met) headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became the public entrance to the police station, and over time the street and the Metropolitan Police became synonymous.
One version of the story says that when the crowns of England and Scotland merged in 1603, James VI of Scotland became James I of England. Seizing the opportunity, he settled in England and never visited Scotland again. All the entourage of the Scottish Court relocated in London, and they settled into comfortable premises nicknamed Scotland Yard by the English. Years and years later, the Metropolitan Police HQ was in Scotland Yard and so the name stuck.
In 1967, London's police force moved to its HQ at Broadway, Victoria Street in London, which was called New Scotland Yard.
This week, the London Police force moves to a new home at the Curtis Green building at Victoria embankment, which is adjacent to the original "Scotland Yard".
The Met's crime database uses a national computer system developed for major crime enquiries by all British forces, called Home Office Large Major Enquiry System, more commonly referred to by the acronym HOLMES, which recognises Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's great fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. The training programme is called 'Elementary', after Holmes's well-known phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson".
The Metropolitan Police Service was formed on September 29, 1829, under the Metropolitan Police Act introduced by British Home Secretary Robert Peel. Richard Mayne and Charles Rowan were its first commissioners.
The nickname “Bobby” for police officers comes from the man who helped create the service, Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel.
The initial force consisted of some 1,000 people who patrolled the streets within a seven-mile (11 kilometer) radius of Charing Cross – an area populated by some 2 million people at that time. Scotland Yard currently employs more than 50,000 people and supervises 32 boroughs of Greater London with a population of more than 8.5 million people.
The Metropolitan Police Service is responsible for law enforcement in most of London, excluding the City of London borough, which has its own police force (City of London Police service).
There are only two Police Commissioners in the whole of England: one for the City of London Police Service, and one for the Metropolitan Police Service. The head of every other police service in Britain holds the title of “Chief Constable”.
Scotland Yard is the location of a private Crime Museum (also called the "Black Museum") featuring crime-related artefacts such as letters from Jack the Ripper, documents and an extensive collection of weapons. Unfortunately the Museum is currently open only to police personnel but there is talk of the general public gaining access to these treasures soon.
So the next time you're in London, do check if you can get access to this record of London's underbelly.
That's all on this week's GK nugget.
Well, we might have moved on from the game, but this week its time for the London police force to move on to their new headquarters & that's what this week's GK Nugget will talk about.
Let's start with why the London Police force is called Scotland Yard.
The name derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police (Met) headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became the public entrance to the police station, and over time the street and the Metropolitan Police became synonymous.
One version of the story says that when the crowns of England and Scotland merged in 1603, James VI of Scotland became James I of England. Seizing the opportunity, he settled in England and never visited Scotland again. All the entourage of the Scottish Court relocated in London, and they settled into comfortable premises nicknamed Scotland Yard by the English. Years and years later, the Metropolitan Police HQ was in Scotland Yard and so the name stuck.
In 1967, London's police force moved to its HQ at Broadway, Victoria Street in London, which was called New Scotland Yard.
This week, the London Police force moves to a new home at the Curtis Green building at Victoria embankment, which is adjacent to the original "Scotland Yard".
The Met's crime database uses a national computer system developed for major crime enquiries by all British forces, called Home Office Large Major Enquiry System, more commonly referred to by the acronym HOLMES, which recognises Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's great fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. The training programme is called 'Elementary', after Holmes's well-known phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson".
The Metropolitan Police Service was formed on September 29, 1829, under the Metropolitan Police Act introduced by British Home Secretary Robert Peel. Richard Mayne and Charles Rowan were its first commissioners.
The nickname “Bobby” for police officers comes from the man who helped create the service, Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel.
The initial force consisted of some 1,000 people who patrolled the streets within a seven-mile (11 kilometer) radius of Charing Cross – an area populated by some 2 million people at that time. Scotland Yard currently employs more than 50,000 people and supervises 32 boroughs of Greater London with a population of more than 8.5 million people.
The Metropolitan Police Service is responsible for law enforcement in most of London, excluding the City of London borough, which has its own police force (City of London Police service).
There are only two Police Commissioners in the whole of England: one for the City of London Police Service, and one for the Metropolitan Police Service. The head of every other police service in Britain holds the title of “Chief Constable”.
Scotland Yard is the location of a private Crime Museum (also called the "Black Museum") featuring crime-related artefacts such as letters from Jack the Ripper, documents and an extensive collection of weapons. Unfortunately the Museum is currently open only to police personnel but there is talk of the general public gaining access to these treasures soon.
So the next time you're in London, do check if you can get access to this record of London's underbelly.
That's all on this week's GK nugget.